| December 1st |
In December I no more desire a rose Than wish a snow in May’s new-fangled mirth; But like each thing that in its season grows. -- William Shakespeare (circa 1595) That's true. That's true. Shakespeare was right. But it isn't May now, it's December, and some of us desire some snow and some ice on the lake. Help us out weatherman, would you please? |
| December 2nd | Yesterday morning was interesting from a wildlife point of view. First of all, there were three otters playing on the edge of the ice for quite some time (unfortunately no pictures). Then later there were four eagles on the ice for quite some time as well. Click HERE for a picture of the 4 of them (three adults and one immature), and HERE for a close up after two of the adults had left. Sorry about the poor quality. |
| December 3rd | Perhaps the best hamburgers in the area are served at a little Pub named Riley's Cannibal Junction. Its address is Deer River but it's located just a tad south of Talmoon on Highway 6 (about 30 miles Northwest of LBLR). Not only does it serve great hamburgers.......but it's haunted and has been investigated by the NMPI (Northern Minnesota Paranormal Investigators). To see an article written by the NMPI click HERE. I have no idea where or when the article was originally published but judging from the picture, it doesn't appear to be recent. Riley's Cannibal Junction (also known as Riley's Fine Food and Drink) is listed on several other "haunted" web-sites including the Encyclopedia of Haunted Places. In spite of the fact that it's haunted, stop in there sometime and have one of their great hamburgers. |
| December 4th | Last year by this date we had several below zero nights, one of which was -12. On this date two years ago, we awoke to 27 degrees below zero. So far this fall, I don't "think" that we've been as low as single digits even once, let alone below zero, and we've had a lot of low temps in the 30s recently. Sigh....... |
| December 5th | MSU Spartans: 2015 Big Ten Football champions!!!!! |
| December 6th | Turkey burgers are pretty good. Well.......if you're really really hungry they're pretty good. |
| December 7th | December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) and still the lake isn't totally frozen. A new record!!! |
| December 8th | The snowmobile trails officially opened a week ago today, but of course that's irrelevant because there's no snow on them yet. Sigh....... |
| December 9th | When something unexpected happens, a pessimist is usually happy about it. An optimist usually isn't. |
| December 10th | I know, I know.......you're getting darned tired of hearing about this warm weather and lack of ice, but here it is again anyway: It stayed above freezing all last night again. Sheesh. To put this into perspective (ie, to see the other side of coin), go to the Chronicles for two Decembers ago (2013), and scan down the page looking at the temperature readings. They're all in RED so they're easy to pick out. To go there, click HERE. |
| December 11th | This statue was in my own house on my own hearth during yesterday's Vikings/Cardinals game, and I want to go down on record as being against it. I have no comment about who put it there or who won the game. Click HERE. |
| December 12th | Bentleyville!!! Click HERE and HERE. |
| Ides of December |
The problem with internet quotes is that you cannot always depend on their accuracy. -- Benjamin Franklin, 1789 |
| December 14th |
Halcyon days begin today. Does this look like mid-December to you? Sigh....... Click HERE. |
| December 15th | Would you believe that Reed Drug Store has went out of business? It first opened in the late 1920s and has been in its current location since 1955.......and now it's gone! |
| December 16th |
Last night was the annual LBLR Company Christmas Party (for the cleaning crew and spouses). Left to right: Milo, Dave, Tara (the manager), and Cindy. Maija is missing (it was held at an adult facility). Click HERE. In spite of the weather, the lake appears to be thawing a bit. Yesterday the open spot was from the south end to cabin 4, today it's almost to the front porch. Click HERE. This is in front of the house. |
| December 17th | Cabin 2 was finally shut down about a week ago (a little later than normal but not much), which means that LBLR is now buttoned up for the winter. Of course cabins 5 and 6 are still up and running as usual, so if you're interested in renting one of them for a get-away weekend, send me an e-mail or give me a call. |
| December 18th |
Exactly six months from today the K-family will begin arriving for their biennial reunion. I'm looking forward to it!!!!! Single digits this morning (9 degrees) but there's still lots of liquid on the lake surface. |
| December 19th | Aha!!!! I looked at the lake from the cabin 4 dock, from the top of the duplex, and from the public landing. I could see no open water anywhere in spite of the fact that I saw rising steam this morning. So I'm declaring it frozen as of today. This year broke the old record of December 6th (which was in 1999, incidentally) by a day less than a fortnight, which was also three weeks and 2 days later than the average. It's been a warm December.......but it'll be back to normal next year. Click HERE to see the details. |
| December 20th | It's still frozen. I'm sure you knew that, but the reason I'm saying it is HERE. |
| Winter Solstice |
Welcome Winter. Your late dawns and chilled breath make me lazy.......but I love you nonetheless. -- Terri Guillemets I agree with you Terri! |
| December 22nd | Blooming Christmas, here again.......almost. Click HERE. |
| December 23rd | According to a custom of Christmas cheer, any man and woman who meet under a hanging of mistletoe are obliged to kiss. Take notice of the word obliged. |
| Chrismas Eve | Blooming Christmas, here again.......almost. Click HERE. |
| Christmas Day |
Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS. -- Matthew 1:22-25 Merry Christmas!!!!! |
| Boxing Day | To see a short description of the history of Boxing Day, click HERE. |
| December 27th |
The population of Christmas, Michigan is 1,138. The population of Christmas, Florida is 1,146. Or click HERE. |
| December 28th | The population of Santa Claus, Indiana is 2,468, or click HERE. |
| December 29th | I hope all you down-staters are enjoying your snow because we sure didn't get any up in this neck of the woods. The ground is still covered from the previous snow but there's not enough of it around to do anything fun with. Sigh....... |
| December 30th | I'm surprised by this: I believe that I'm having a relapse and heading back toward being a serious Scrooge like I was during the 20 years between 1990 and 2010. June 25th is rapidly becoming my favorite day of the year again. |
| New Year's Eve |
I’m writing this in a state of shock, Watching the clock -- tick tock, tick tock, Advancing ... approaching ... relentlessly, A brand new year; Oh, can it be? -- Joanna Fuchs (circa 1990) Already there's another one. Sheesh! |
